I am writing this post to describe my experience of Guru Yoga practice. I am a novice practitioner. I do not have any experience or realization, so read on at your discretion!
There have been at least two occasions however when I have done Guru Yoga practice and very soon thereafter I have had small windfalls land in my lap. Recently, as I just moved down here to Tampa Florida, I have had some extra time on my hands. I am searching for quality jobs where I will be rewarded for my hard work, but in this economy, there are not a ton of jobs that pay well. Anyway, Guru Yoga – yes, so I have some extra time on my hands, and I had been doing some Ngondro practice (refuge and purification – again I know very little about these things, but I can say the words and maybe sound like I know). So I sort of “built up” to doing Guru Yoga which by the way is a Buddhist (and other religions like Hinduism if I understand correctly) practice where one intends to establish a connection with the precious lineage of teachers and teachings – you know, gurus!
So I did the practice, again, not having anything special happen or really feeling any different. But sure enough, the next day, a client calls me out of the blue, having been recommended by a previous client from years earlier. I’m not sure if there is a connection here between having called out to my Lamas and getting “rewarded” with a paying client, but I would not doubt it. This situation also happened back earlier in my practitioner-hood. I would do a lot of practice one day, and then the next few days I would be called with odd jobs that people needed done. Again, not sure if there is a connection. 🙂
And, I must emphasize that earning money cannot or should not be the primary reason one does any sort of spiritual practice. Although there are certainly those Taurus types out there who need to have tangible results from whatever they are doing… Instead, I think we should practice to improve ourselves and to be able to benefit more and more sentient beings as we progress and mature. Then if money or clients or books or teaching gigs follow, then that is okay. But if we go in saying, “I’m Buddhist because the dakas and dakinis rain down money when I practice…” Then that might not be a good motivation for practice. If that is your main concern, maybe you should go work on Wall Street. If you have some morals however… (just saying!)
So if you are ready, establishing a connection with an authentic spiritual teacher is a worthy and precious endeavor. Then they will know what your capacity is as far as practice goes and who knows, maybe down the road you will be ready to establish a solid connection with your lineage and gurus! I think that is a fine aspiration indeed!
As for myself however, the more I practice, the more afflicted I realize my mind is and the more I realize my difficulty in working with many types of sentient beings. So I have a long long way to go before I am ready for a daily Guru Yoga regimen. Thanks for reading.
Meditation Informs Healing Facilitation 